vs LA Lakers Wednesday November 17 7:30 pm

Much of this frustration is coming from the last game attended. The first half was fine, I was sitting in front of an older gentleman and another lady who knew their Pistons. The 2nd half a group of eight people come and sit behind me, all were drinking at one of the bars up until then, they sat behind us for the whole 3rd qtr and talked about everything except basketball, didn't know a single player on the floor, and almost spilled beer on my fiancée. Watching a team that won't try, playing for a GM (who even when his hands weren't tied by an incompetent owner) is doing nothing and having to sit around a bunch of fake fans who actually cheer louder for the opposition than they do their own team is too much for me to bear, I guess I'll catch every game for free in my basement with my affordable beer in my fridge.

I think you got to be borderline insane to go to a game instead of watching at home. Seeing it live is cool if you can sit down on the court level because you can really appreciate the small spaces these guys need to get their shots off, but that's about it. I wouldn't pay $3 to sit in the upper bowl. I'd much rather watch at home.

Much of this frustration is coming from the last game attended. The first half was fine, I was sitting in front of an older gentleman and another lady who knew their Pistons. The 2nd half a group of eight people come and sit behind me, all were drinking at one of the bars up until then, they sat behind us for the whole 3rd qtr and talked about everything except basketball, didn't know a single player on the floor, and almost spilled beer on my fiancée. Watching a team that won't try, playing for a GM (who even when his hands weren't tied by an incompetent owner) is doing nothing and having to sit around a bunch of fake fans who actually cheer louder for the opposition than they do their own team is too much for me to bear, I guess I'll catch every game for free in my basement with my affordable beer in my fridge.

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I was working recently in dowtown Saginaw. I start talking to a security guard that I know and he tells me that he goes to about a dozen Piston games per year but only when the Lakers or Miami or some other good team comes to town. He really didn't have any interest in the Pistons anymore even though he is a very knowledgeable fan. So even the former real fans have lost hope. They don't think the Pistons are putting a good product on the court.

I was working recently in dowtown Saginaw. I start talking to a security guard that I know and he tells me that he goes to about a dozen Piston games per year but only when the Lakers or Miami or some other good team comes to town. He really didn't have any interest in the Pistons anymore even though he is a very knowledgeable fan. So even the former real fans have lost hope. They don't think the Pistons are putting a good product on the court.

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Even with all the promotional deals it still costs a lot to go to a game unless you are going to fast. It will only get worse - much, much worse - with the faux fans and prices if they build a new arena.

My birthday is in March and the Pistons away game vs Denver usually falls around that time. My wife tends to snag tickets for me and I go. Pistons fans are pretty well represented as there are a ton of transplant Michiganders like myself out here. Denver is mos-def NOT a basketball town though.

Back in the early to mid 90's, the Ad agency that I worked for back in Detroit had a suite at the Palace. I used to go to a butt load of games when it wasn't "cool" to do so. A guy I worked with had a friend who worked for the Palace as a corporate ambassador type dude. He'd come to our suite each game halfway through the 1st quarter and bring us down to sit courtside in seats that he knew weren't going to be used that game. It was amazing to see games up close like that!

The Palace was always half-full during those days due to the team sucking pretty bad. I guess cats like Terry Mills don't draw the "casual NBA fan". The people that did show up were pretty die-hard Pistons fans. People really knew what was going on and followed the game pretty closely. Having a sucky team tended to filter out the masses, leaving the die hards the arena all to themselves.

If history repeats itself and as the current Pistons continue to lose, the crowds at the Palace will dwindle in quantity but improve in quality.
You might only have 11,000 people at a game but they'll all know who Fennis Dembo was.

I think you got to be borderline insane to go to a game instead of watching at home. Seeing it live is cool if you can sit down on the court level because you can really appreciate the small spaces these guys need to get their shots off, but that's about it. I wouldn't pay $3 to sit in the upper bowl. I'd much rather watch at home.

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I would agree with you Ernie.
High def TVs, surround sound, a DVR and a nice couch are more appealing to me than $20 parking, $8 domestic beers and standing in line to take a leak. I'm so jaded that I don't even watch games live on TV. I DVR them so I can skip the commercials and halftime.

I've sat court side before though and everyone should do it once if you get a chance. I've had Olden Polynice sit on my lap trying to save a ball from going out of bounds. I've also received a high five from Lindsey Hunter after he drained a three. Being within an audible distance of Sheed Wallace's ongoing in-game dialog might almost be worth the price of those high-dollar over priced seats. I don't think I'd ever pay for 'em but I'll jump at the chance if someone wants to take me again.

I couldn't believe when I saw Pistons tickets for 3 dollars in the upper bowl. That is amazing. It's truly that bad, huh? However, you do deal with faux fans everywhere. Even concerts. Every time I go to a show at The Rave in Milwaukee, I'm surrounded by drunks who dont know who Warren Haynes is, and are too busy talking with their teeny bopper friends. Just how it goes. But when a team is real good, and tickets are in demand, those fans dwindle. My GF is not a basketball fan, but she enjoys watching and listening to me gripe, and I was trying to explain to her the sell out streak we had during the mid 00's. Unreal.

I would agree with you Ernie.
High def TVs, surround sound, a DVR and a nice couch are more appealing to me than $20 parking, $8 domestic beers and standing in line to take a leak. I'm so jaded that I don't even watch games live on TV. I DVR them so I can skip the commercials and halftime.

I've sat court side before though and everyone should do it once if you get a chance. I've had Olden Polynice sit on my lap trying to save a ball from going out of bounds. I've also received a high five from Lindsey Hunter after he drained a three. Being within an audible distance of Sheed Wallace's ongoing in-game dialog might almost be worth the price of those high-dollar over priced seats. I don't think I'd ever pay for 'em but I'll jump at the chance if someone wants to take me again.

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I bought courtside seats right behind the hockey boards for a Nugs v Sheed's Blazer game back when I lived in Denver. The Nugs were horrible and I was able to buy the tickets the day of the game. They were $120 a pop for me and my now wife. It was a lot of money, but it was worth it to sit that close and see Sheed go off from a close distance.

I'll never forget watching the Blazers run right by me out of the tunnel and realizing that Sheed wasn't there. He was suspended for the game by the team. On top of that guys like Dyess, Van Excel and anyone else of note were all out. I couldn't believe it.

To make it worse, any time you'd even look at the boards the ushers would yell at you. My wife dropped her capped bottle of water against the boards and the ushers start screaming at her. We had just decided to leave so I called the woman a name that began with a c. This set a male usher off and he started following me up the aisle. I threw the water bottle at him and 3 dudes come grab me to throw me out.

What I didn't realize was I was about 3' away from a guy who had interviewed me for a job the day before. He saw it all! I still got the job.

I bought courtside seats right behind the hockey boards for a Nugs v Sheed's Blazer game back when I lived in Denver. The Nugs were horrible and I was able to buy the tickets the day of the game. They were $120 a pop for me and my now wife. It was a lot of money, but it was worth it to sit that close and see Sheed go off from a close distance.

I'll never forget watching the Blazers run right by me out of the tunnel and realizing that Sheed wasn't there. He was suspended for the game by the team. On top of that guys like Dyess, Van Excel and anyone else of note were all out. I couldn't believe it.

To make it worse, any time you'd even look at the boards the ushers would yell at you. My wife dropped her capped bottle of water against the boards and the ushers start screaming at her. We had just decided to leave so I called the woman a name that began with a c. This set a male usher off and he started following me up the aisle. I threw the water bottle at him and 3 dudes come grab me to throw me out.

What I didn't realize was I was about 3' away from a guy who had interviewed me for a job the day before. He saw it all! I still got the job.

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Was that at McNickles or at The Pepsi Center?
Where did you live in Denver?

That's cool that you got the pre-meditated ejection from the arena. It seems that Rip followed your technique against th Lakers.

I normally go to about three Clippers games a year, a Laker game once every three years and one road game every other year when I am traveling.

The two games I have seen this season at Staples were both $50 a ticket for the Clips vs Thunder and Clips vs Pistons and both instances, the seats were about 15 rows back behind the basket and I was close enough to see the razor stubble on Tay's jaw...

Last season when all hope was gone...the Clippers sold seats for $15-25 right behind the basket in March and April and I was only 10 seats in back of the basket for the two games I attended then.

I sit here at home with NBA-LP and can watch any game on my 32 inch HD TV here in my office,,,,,,,but despite the perennial sucky play of the clippers, its always a good fun atmosphere being right there in the Staples Center trying to figure out how the Clippers are going lose the game because they are in all of them until the end.......the music, the dancing on the jumbo-tron,the kiss cam all the stuff you don't get at home... I think they fans at the Clippers games have more fun than the stuffy celebrity and high roller fans do at the Laker games....and yep there are always about 2000 Piston fans in attendance when the boys from Motown show up and we can get vocal enough to be heard.

I bought courtside seats right behind the hockey boards for a Nugs v Sheed's Blazer game back when I lived in Denver. The Nugs were horrible and I was able to buy the tickets the day of the game. They were $120 a pop for me and my now wife. It was a lot of money, but it was worth it to sit that close and see Sheed go off from a close distance.

I'll never forget watching the Blazers run right by me out of the tunnel and realizing that Sheed wasn't there. He was suspended for the game by the team. On top of that guys like Dyess, Van Excel and anyone else of note were all out. I couldn't believe it.

To make it worse, any time you'd even look at the boards the ushers would yell at you. My wife dropped her capped bottle of water against the boards and the ushers start screaming at her. We had just decided to leave so I called the woman a name that began with a c. This set a male usher off and he started following me up the aisle. I threw the water bottle at him and 3 dudes come grab me to throw me out.

What I didn't realize was I was about 3' away from a guy who had interviewed me for a job the day before. He saw it all! I still got the job.

Ernie might be the only forum member that has been ejected from a game. I got in a scuffle once at the Palace but security was nowhere to be found.

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One night in Washington Earl Strom threw the Bullets informal mascot out of the game (a big guy who walked around dressed like Moses complete with staff and cardboard tablets). Mose (as we called him) happened to be standing right beside my seat when he got tossed and I yelled that Earl didn't have any authority to throw him out.

One night in Washington Earl Strom threw the Bullets informal mascot out of the game (a big guy who walked around dressed like Moses complete with staff and cardboard tablets). Mose (as we called him) happened to be standing right beside my seat when he got tossed and I yelled that Earl didn't have any authority to throw him out.

Earl asked if I wanted to go to. I said "no,sir".

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Earl Strom was legendary...did you ever read his autobiography?. That's a good story.